Autonomous Detection of Particles and Tracks in Optical Images

TL;DR

This paper presents autonomous techniques for detecting and tracking small particles in optical images from space missions, improving efficiency over manual methods for asteroid surface analysis.

Contribution

The work introduces automated detection and initial tracking methods for particles in optical images, tailored for space mission applications like OSIRIS-REx.

Findings

Successfully identified particles in optical images from OSIRIS-REx

Automated detection reduces manual inspection effort

Provides initial correspondence between sequential images

Abstract

During its initial orbital phase in early 2019, the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) asteroid sample return mission detected small particles apparently emanating from the surface of the near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu in optical navigation images. Identification and characterization of the physical and dynamical properties of these objects became a mission priority in terms of both spacecraft safety and scientific investigation. Traditional techniques for particle identification and tracking typically rely on manual inspection and are often time-consuming. The large number of particles associated with the Bennu events and the mission criticality rendered manual inspection techniques infeasible for long-term operational support. In this work, we present techniques for autonomously detecting potential particles in monocular images and providing initial correspondences between observations in sequential images, as implemented for the OSIRIS-REx mission.